Hello. I'm currently reading the nonfiction book "The Sea Wolves" by Lars Brownworth. The claim is made that Vikings would toss babies of their enemies onto spears, and throw them into a circle, as a game to amuse themselves. When one Icelandic Viking refused, he was called a Baby lover.
Is there any truth to this story? The author didn't provide a source, and I've yet to find one on the internet. Is this story something manufactured by the enemies of these sea raiders?
The source for this would be an anecdote in the Icelandic Book of Settlements, chapter 98. There, the viking Olvir barnakarl is briefly mentioned as a Norwegian ancestor to some Icelandic settlers. His nickname is given the explanation that he did not have children thrown on spears.
"Barnakarl" is a compound word that literally would mean Childrens man. It may imply that Olvir was fond of children, but could also just mean that he had many children.
Olvir, if he even was real (which we cannot be sure of) would have been living in the 9th century, while the book of settlements was written early in the 12th century and the oldest surviving copies of it are from the 13th century.
So this is not manufactured be enemies, but also it´s not fully credible as a source for this actually being a norm in Viking raids.